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I think its funny that for years this was something you avoided at all costs cause you didn't want the kite to move at all if it was on the ground as part of a routine and now people are trying to learn how to do it.

Why wouldn't you want the kite to move on the ground during a routine? Just a little confused. I thought groundwork has been done for years... Do you mean you didn't want your kite to slide across the ground like in the video?

Talking about the slide itself. If you landed or were doing ground work you wanted the kite to stay where you landed it or you got dinged. The grounded slide could put you in a part of the grid you shouldn't be in. Mainly an issue for precision.

I see what you are saying now. That makes sense. Speaking of groundwork. It seems that this is somewhat of a lost art form. It used to be really popular with the older style kites, but I don't see it done as much anymore. Do newer style kites have limits on groundwork?

I see what you are saying now. That makes sense. Speaking of groundwork. It seems that this is somewhat of a lost art form. It used to be really popular with the older style kites, but I don't see it done as much anymore. Do newer style kites have limits on groundwork?

I think it's that people moved on to more advanced tricks and some of the easier stuff was left behind. People also have a tendency to copy the top fliers flying styles. Everyone pretty much flies like the French/euro guys now days. Long lines, super aggressive, super technical, tons of pitch tricks.

I really love ground work and low altitude tricking. Any trick that's cool 30 feet up is cooler 3 feet up. A ground pass 8 feet up is yawn... A few inches up is really quite nice, so even very basic stuff is cool if its low enough.

I see what you are saying now. That makes sense. Speaking of groundwork. It seems that this is somewhat of a lost art form. It used to be really popular with the older style kites, but I don't see it done as much anymore. Do newer style kites have limits on groundwork?

I think it's that people moved on to more advanced tricks and some of the easier stuff was left behind. People also have a tendency to copy the top fliers flying styles. Everyone pretty much flies like the French/euro guys now days. Long lines, super aggressive, super technical, tons of pitch tricks.

I really love ground work and low altitude tricking. Any trick that's cool 30 feet up is cooler 3 feet up. A ground pass 8 feet up is yawn... A few inches up is really quite nice, so even very basic stuff is cool if its low enough.

This is too true. I remember when the cartwheel, coin toss, side slide 3 inches off the ground, tip drag and summersault and even a fade a foot or less up were considered great tricks and now they are just passe'. Some of the ground work tricks are harder with straight leading edges but still doable.

I see what you are saying now. That makes sense. Speaking of groundwork. It seems that this is somewhat of a lost art form. It used to be really popular with the older style kites, but I don't see it done as much anymore. Do newer style kites have limits on groundwork?

I think it's that people moved on to more advanced tricks and some of the easier stuff was left behind. People also have a tendency to copy the top fliers flying styles. Everyone pretty much flies like the French/euro guys now days. Long lines, super aggressive, super technical, tons of pitch tricks.

I really love ground work and low altitude tricking. Any trick that's cool 30 feet up is cooler 3 feet up. A ground pass 8 feet up is yawn... A few inches up is really quite nice, so even very basic stuff is cool if its low enough.

This is too true. I remember when the cartwheel, coin toss, side slide 3 inches off the ground, tip drag and summersault and even a fade a foot or less up were considered great tricks and now they are just passe'. Some of the ground work tricks are harder with straight leading edges but still doable.

I wish some of these modern trick gods would do more low altitude stuff. It's fun to watch.

I see what you are saying now. That makes sense. Speaking of groundwork. It seems that this is somewhat of a lost art form. It used to be really popular with the older style kites, but I don't see it done as much anymore. Do newer style kites have limits on groundwork?

I think it's that people moved on to more advanced tricks and some of the easier stuff was left behind. People also have a tendency to copy the top fliers flying styles. Everyone pretty much flies like the French/euro guys now days. Long lines, super aggressive, super technical, tons of pitch tricks.

I really love ground work and low altitude tricking. Any trick that's cool 30 feet up is cooler 3 feet up. A ground pass 8 feet up is yawn... A few inches up is really quite nice, so even very basic stuff is cool if its low enough.

This is too true. I remember when the cartwheel, coin toss, side slide 3 inches off the ground, tip drag and summersault and even a fade a foot or less up were considered great tricks and now they are just passe'. Some of the ground work tricks are harder with straight leading edges but still doable.

I wish some of these modern trick gods would do more low altitude stuff. It's fun to watch.

YEa I'm right there with ya. Did my first demo this weekend and started off holding a tip stand for about 10 min waiting for them to figure out the audio system bugs. That, the side slide across the whole window and the 540 a foot or so off the ground from a high speed dive in 17 mph+ beach wind got the most comments from the crowd out of everything in my routine.

It will never cease to amaze me what some call tricks now, were called mistakes before. All the ground slide tells me is you can take advantage of terrain to do the work for you. Forget the ground slide and show me a true side slide 6 inches or less above the ground across the window. That is my challenge to you Jay

Aww, come on! You cannot be that much older than me, yet you sound like your own grandfather. Let us kids have some fun while we grow up and learn those _serious_ tricks. We'll get there eventually. I am already practicing for your challenge (and have been before it even existed), but I am not a good enough flier yet. Believe it or not, however, the ground slide is helping me get there: It looks smoothest if the tips do not actually _touch_ the ground.

I agree it might be a little far fetched to call the ground slide a trick. So let's call it a move. A mistake it is certainly not, as it is a controlled motion and can be reproduced at will. And some folks here agree that it looks cool, for that matter. The help of terrain cannot be a reason to call it a mistake either. Otherwise, your 10-minute tip stand would be a pretty nasty one. Truly impressive otherwise!

On a different matter: What I find interesting about the move shown in the dead-launch-to-ground-slide video is that the wingtips never lose contact with the ground during and after the dead launch. I have only been able to do this with my Solus, not with any other kite. And if I am a good boy and say please, I am pretty sure Grampa will teach me how to do a proper dead launch. Without taking advantage of terrain, that is

JayDee,That is a BONUS video and in the last cut you proved that you are one of us ,"humanoid"Hmm, SOL standard looks appealing, attractive and easy to fly I wish.Sweet flying.keep em coming they are addictive viewing, new and very different from every other video that i watch over and over every night of the week(there arent enough anyways) and the location looks like Kite paradise!

JD, you should be honored to receive one of Anthony's (Ike) kaboshes- he usually only does it to someone who has done something really cool in order to knock 'em down a peg or two.

JW, please don't start the "what a REAL side slide is" war again. Maybe asking to see video of a ten-minute tipstand would be better, tho in 17mph winds maybe not all that big a deal, eh? Your post with the encouraging bit of helpfulness was perfect - more of that kind of thing would be so cool to see around here.

Aww, come on! You cannot be that much older than me, yet you sound like your own grandfather. Let us kids have some fun while we grow up and learn those _serious_ tricks. We'll get there eventually. I am already practicing for your challenge (and have been before it even existed), but I am not a good enough flier yet. Believe it or not, however, the ground slide is helping me get there: It looks smoothest if the tips do not actually _touch_ the ground.

I agree it might be a little far fetched to call the ground slide a trick. So let's call it a move. A mistake it is certainly not, as it is a controlled motion and can be reproduced at will. And some folks here agree that it looks cool, for that matter. The help of terrain cannot be a reason to call it a mistake either. Otherwise, your 10-minute tip stand would be a pretty nasty one. Truly impressive otherwise!

On a different matter: What I find interesting about the move shown in the dead-launch-to-ground-slide video is that the wingtips never lose contact with the ground during and after the dead launch. I have only been able to do this with my Solus, not with any other kite. And if I am a good boy and say please, I am pretty sure Grampa will teach me how to do a proper dead launch. Without taking advantage of terrain, that is

Yea my age depends on how I feel at the end of a work day . You misunderstand though, this move as well as some others, used to be avoided in competitions since you could get dinged on score. Hence the mistake if you let it happen. Proper dead launch? Heck if you get it up without breaking a spar or nicking the sail you did a good one Straight LE kites don't dead launch gracefully.

JD, you should be honored to receive one of Anthony's (Ike) kaboshes- he usually only does it to someone who has done something really cool in order to knock 'em down a peg or two.

JW, please don't start the "what a REAL side slide is" war again. Maybe asking to see video of a ten-minute tipstand would be better, tho in 17mph winds maybe not all that big a deal, eh? Your post with the encouraging bit of helpfulness was perfect - more of that kind of thing would be so cool to see around here.

JD isn't the first to do this move and stating a point is not a kabosh since I'm not trying to end it or put a stop to it. I can say the same thing about a few other mistakes that are now considered tricks.

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